King Left Town Impressed

Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Enjoyed His Night At The Ballpark

August 2, 2013

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are ''leftovers'' from an evening spent with Sports Illustrated's senior NFL writer Peter King at Diethrick Park on Wednesday.

Peter King, Sports Illustrated's senior NFL writer, left Wednesday's New York-Pennsylvania League baseball game between the Jamestown Jammers and the Staten Island Yankees three innings early, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the experience he had during his 2 1/2-hour visit in Jamestown.

Following are some of his random thoughts:

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On why he decided to make a trip to Jamestown during his three-week training camp tour: ''I wanted to come here because I remember it from a few years ago as being one of the coolest and one of the most quaint (stadiums),'' he said from his seat in the grandstand behind home plate. ''There are two minor league stadiums that I've been to that just feel like baseball. The scene is beautiful, the place is beautiful and it feels like baseball. It's here and in Kannapolis N.C., where the Kannapolis Intimidators play. That's where Dale Earnhardt is from.''

His thoughts on the Buffalo Bills after spending Tuesday at their training facility at St. John Fisher College: "I think what's going to be fun for them is they're going to have a really smart, progressive offense. Doug Marrone and this young kid, (offensive coordinator) Nathaniel Hackett, they're going to play the game, I think, very, very aggressively and do a bunch of things.

" ... I don't know if that guy EJ Manuel is going to play this year. I think he probably will. I don't think much of Kevin Kolb, so we'll see.''

On the Bills hiring Marrone as their head coach: ''I love stepping out of the normal box and hiring sort of a different guy, and he's a different guy. Nobody expected him to get the gig.''

Three years ago after the unexpected death of his brother, King wrote a piece for his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. Shortly thereafter, he received a letter from Bills' owner Ralph Wilson, who was moved by the relationship the brothers shared.

''It was just an incredible letter from Ralph Wilson, and it's one of those things that you never forget,'' King said. ''It was just beautiful.''

Accompanying King on his training camp tour are SI employees Andy DeGory, John DePetro and Jenny Vrentas, as well as Pro Football Focus founder Neil Hornsby.

Hailing from England, Hornsby, a business consultant by trade, describes PFF as the only company ''in the world that grades every single player on every single play in the NFL. We sell data to eight NFL teams now and we have a couple other teams who will take the data in the next couple weeks.''

Hornsby, who employs about 25 people, said he became a fan of the NFL and the Miami Dolphins in 1983 when Dan Marino was drafted to be their quarterback.

''In 1999 when Marino retired, I realized I was a Dan Marino fan. ... I stopped getting annoyed so I could watch games other than the Dolphins. ... That was really the transition point in which my love of the game grew and when we started to do what we do.''

Hornsby admits that he's now just learning about baseball.

''Last Wednesday,'' King interjected, ''we were in Denver and we saw the Rockies play at Coors Field. (Neil) likes (minor league baseball) better.''

On his experience in Jamestown, which included having his recreational vehicle get stuck in a field adjacent to the stadium parking lot, and the help he received in getting it back on the road:

''I'll remember it all. This is going to be an incredible memory. It's fantastic. Look at all these people and how wonderful they are.''

During the Jammers game, King was greeted by a number of fans, some of whom wanted his autograph. One person asked him to sign a baseball.